The Complete Clockwork Chimera Saga

by Scott Baron

  A klaxon sounded, echoing across the facility, rousting the resting workers from their repose.

  “Time for another shift, Maarl. Be well, and be safe. Prepare for my call to action, and have your network ready themselves. When I have further details, I will inform you.”

  Craaxit rose and walked back to his bunk, where he methodically strapped his tools to his waist, then headed to check out his pulse rifle before venturing into the city for another day’s work.

  “You’re a bigot, just admit it,” Tamara said.

  “I’m not a bigot,” Daisy replied, watching the walls of the loop tube flash by, wishing they would reach their destination already so the grilling would finally stop.

  “So, if you’re not a bigot, what are you, then?”

  “Can you give it a rest, Tamara?”

  “Sure. Once you tell me what it is you have against us.”

  “It’s not you, exactly.” Daisy fought for the right words and came up lacking. “It’s just that, well, you’re not quite human, you know? You have an AI living in you, and that doesn’t seem natural.”

  “Well, duh. By definition, metal limbs and AI boosters are not natural.”

  “Exactly.”

  Tamara pondered for a moment.

  “Okay, so you’re not a bigot.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re just prejudiced.”

  “Oh, will you give it a rest?”

  “Admit it, Daisy. You may not hate retrofitted and modified humans, but you are most definitely uncomfortable around us. So yes, prejudice.”

  Daisy considered the fine line between the terms and found, despite her reluctance to admit it, Tamara had made a reasonable case.

  “To be fair, I suppose you’re right, to a degree,” she said reluctantly.

  “So you admit it?”

  “Yeah. I guess after what happened on the Váli, it’s taken me a while to deal with all of that, you know?”

  Tamara softened a little.

  “Daisy, you found out your boyfriend was sporting a neural-boosting AI when you thought he was actually entirely organic, and that was after losing your best friend––”

  “Sister.”

  “Right. Sister. To an accident that, I must admit, given the circumstances, looked like it could have been intentional, though we know it wasn’t.”

  “It was a bad time,” Daisy said with a tired sigh.

  “Yeah, it was.”

  The two sat silently, reflecting on the events that had brought them to Earth.

  “Tamara,” Daisy said softly, “I’m really, really sorry I blew you out the airlock.”

  Tamara quietly absorbed the apology, and this time, it finally felt right.

  “I know, Daisy. I forgive you.”

  For the rest of the short ride, not another word was said between them, and, for once, that was okay.

  The silent ride abruptly ground to a halt just outside of Denver, a high-pitched squeal emitting from the frame of the frontmost pod as its sides grated against the partially collapsed loop tube.

  “What the––?” Tamara was just beginning to say when the pod dropped from supersonic transit and slid to a juddering halt in the short span of barely two miles.

  There was no fire, but smoke from the friction filled the pod. Out the back window of the connected rear pod, they could see the orange-hot tube floor they had just slid in on.

  “Time to bail,” Daisy said to Tamara, nodding to the front window.

  The metal-armed woman drew her pistol off-handed and fired a shot through the high-density windscreen. Two more followed in quick succession, creating a spiderweb of crackling glass.

  “Give me a hand with this,” she yelled as the first of many kicks landed on the window. Safely wrapped in his Faraday suit, Jonathan lent his robotic heft to the assault, and within moments the glass finally shattered and fell to the ground.

  “Okay, everyone out!” Daisy shouted. “Smoke is behind us, that means there’s only one way we can move. Grab your gear and get a hustle on!”

  The team quickly vaulted from the pod into the empty tube. The lights were dim, but mostly functional as far as the eye could see off into the distance. One glance and Daisy knew what had caused their accident.

  “Check it,” she said to Tamara, looking up at the roof of the tube.

  “Uh-huh,” the burly woman replied. “We must be a good half-mile underground, so whatever they dropped up there must’ve been enormous.”

  The buckled roof had withstood the force of whatever attack the Chithiid had leveled upon the outskirts of Denver, absorbing the energy and diverting it, keeping a viable tunnel intact for emergency egress, as designed. Unfortunately, that also meant the tube was utterly useless as a means of high-speed transit.

  “I estimate we started to lose tube pressure about twenty miles back,” Daisy calculated. “So, given our speed, where the breach is, and how quickly we were approaching Denver, I’d say we’re probably just a few miles outside the city.”

  “That seems to be an accurate assessment,” Jonathan agreed. “And the tube is still intact enough for foot travel. Might I suggest we start walking? The sooner we begin, the sooner we will arrive.”

  “I concur,” Anthony, the other cyborg in their group, agreed in his surprising baritone. “I will gladly assist in carrying additional supplies, if that will aid us in a faster evacuation to the surface.”

  “Surface?” one of Cal’s people said. “But we were to remain below ground until we reached Colorado Springs.”

  “Hate to break it to you, fella, but in case you hadn’t noticed, this whole area looks to have been blown to shit. My guess is, they lay waste to the major networks that connected to that area. Seems to be a tactically wise move,” Tamara said.

  “Daze, that’s going to be a hell of a long hike.”

  I know, but there’s not much else we can do.

  “Think there’ll be any vehicles up top we might commandeer?”

  Even if there are, I doubt they’d have enough charge to drive us. In any case, on the grand scale of visitations by Mr. Murphy, this one ranks pretty low, don’t you think?

  “I suppose so,” Sarah replied. “Let’s just hope we stay lucky.”

  Five miles of hiking later, the team finally arrived at an access station. It was beat up something fierce, and the lifts were damaged beyond repair, but the emergency evac staircase still seemed intact.

  “Okay, we don’t know what’s up there, so everyone stay sharp, and stay quiet,” Tamara said, taking point as they began the ascent.

  It was slow going, climbing the half-mile up from the damaged tube network, but soon enough, the faintest waft of fresh air reached their sweaty faces. Jonathan and his cybernetic companion put their shoulders to the bent metal of the doorway and pushed as hard as they could. The old metal groaned and creaked until it finally gave way, swinging wide as the group spilled out into the open air.

  “Daaaaaang,” Sarah marveled.

  You said it, Daisy agreed.

  Sprawling before them were the remains of the city of Denver, long ago dismantled, its remnants reclaimed by the Colorado wilderness.

  “Looks like that’s one major AI we can cross off the list,” Tamara said with a grunt. “Okay, we are all kinds of exposed out here. I say since the city looks like it was stripped a long time ago, it’s probably safe to cross directly through it. Daisy, what do you think?”

  Daisy gave the area a long look. There wasn’t a bit of shining metal exposed anywhere. Whatever stripping the Chithiid had done, it had been carried out ages ago.

  “Yeah,” she replied. “That sounds like a solid choice. According to the tube map, there should be another access point to the south of what’s left of the city. If the attack didn’t damage that as well, there is a chance we will be able to find a functional pod to take us the last seventy miles. Even sub-sonic, it will sure beat going on foot.”

  “But first, we have to get to the station.” />
  “Yup. Take five and hydrate, then we’ll get a move on.”

  It was going to be a long walk, but the team had little choice. After a brief rest, they shouldered their loads and started moving in the direction they hoped would take them where they needed to go.

  They’d been on the move for over two hours when they came upon a surprisingly intact commercial area.

  “Looks like they missed a spot,” Tamara joked.

  “Yeah, they skipped over this for some reason,” Daisy concurred.

  “If I may,” Jonathan interjected. “This appears to be a retail district. Not high priority for the Ra’az.”

  “Makes sense,” Daisy agreed.

  Far away, a low rumble filtered through the air.

  “Daze, you hear that?”

  “Sonic boom,” she said aloud. “I don’t see any ships, so who knows what that means for us, but everyone keep sharp.”

  They didn’t need to be told twice, and as they moved, the group fell into a comfortable spacing as they stuck to the shadows whenever possible, while ensuring they didn’t bunch up in case of a firefight. Despite the spacing, they made sure to also remain close enough to help one another should the need arise.

  “I think this is going to work,” Sarah said a short while later. “Look at the bombing damage. We’re getting close to the junction, and it looks like the attack stopped just south of the city. If that’s the case, there very well may be a functional tube.”

  “And if wishes were horses––” Daisy stopped in her tracks. “Shit.”

  “What is it?” Tamara asked as she approached. “Oh. Shit,” she agreed when she saw what Daisy had spotted.

  It was a wild horse. At least, what was left of one. Recently killed, from the looks of it, great chunks of flesh had been rent from its flanks by massive claws. Judging by the size of the wounds, only one thing could have done that kind of damage.

  “Grizzly bear,” Daisy gasped quietly.

  “Oh, we are so screwed.”

  Not yet, we aren’t.

  “Daze, look at the size of those claw marks. That’s no ordinary bear––it’s gotta be massive.”

  Indeed, while a normal adult Grizzly could tip the scales at half a ton, whatever had done this was larger than that. A great deal larger.

  Tamara quickly scanned the area, eyes sharp and on high-alert.

  “We’ve got to get out of here. Now, before it comes back. There’s absolutely no sense engaging one of those things. They’re crazy tough. Hell, if we shoot it, we’d probably just piss it off.”

  “Agreed, we need to book out of here,” Daisy concurred. “Okay, people, we’ve got a nasty, furry critter out there that we do not want to meet. Stay quiet, and move fast.” Daisy turned and quickly exited the area, her team close behind her.

  “The stores seem to be mostly intact,” Sarah noted.

  Jonathan was right. Not worth the effort to strip. These guys are after valuable salvage. My guess is once they gutted the high-worth areas of the city, they just abandoned the rest of it.

  “You think there might be some useful gear left behind in one of those warehouses?”

  Not worth the risk to check. We can’t afford to––

  A blood-curdling scream cut through the air. Daisy spun on her heel and saw what she’d been fearing.

  It found us.

  The grizzly was massive. Easily a ton and a half, and it had one of Cal’s young men firmly in its jaws. Daisy drew her sword, ready for a fight.

  “What are you doing?” Tamara yelled. “He’s a goner, and the mission comes first!”

  The man had stopped yelling, flopping like a rag doll in the bear’s mouth.

  “But I can take him,” Daisy replied through clenched teeth.

  “One, maybe, but there are more. Look!”

  Tamara was right. Though not typically social in nature, the grizzly had several friends. Several equally huge friends, and they were quickly bearing down on what they wanted to be their next meal.

  “You’re right,” Daisy agreed. “Head for the building!” she shouted, pointing to the nearest intact structure in which they might have some hope of sheltering.

  Nearly all of the team took off at a sprint, not needing to be told twice. One, however, remained.

  “Leave him alone!” a deep voice yelled.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Tamara shouted as the cyborg rushed the massive beast.

  “Anthony, do not engage the animal!” Jonathan called after his mechanical brother, but he was already on the attack, doing what he could to save his human teammate.

  “Drop him, you hairy monster!” the metal man said as he threw a blindingly quick flurry of punches into the animal’s flank.

  “Shit, he’s fast!”

  Fast doesn’t mean anything against something like that.

  Daisy was correct.

  The grizzly tossed the now-dead meat-man aside, focusing its attention on the metal-man instead. Like a cross Wookiee, it ripped the cyborg’s arms from their sockets with ease. It was only then that the artificial man realized the error of his decision. By then, it was too late. His shrieking voice cut out abruptly as the bear’s massive jaws crushed his head into shrapnel.

  “The others made it inside that building! Get moving, Daze!”

  Daisy turned and bolted across the debris-littered road, the thundering of several grizzly bears’ enormous paws slapping the pavement gaining on her fast.

  I’m not going to make it, she realized as she pushed as hard as she could to reach the beckoning door.

  A bellowing roar shook her ears, and hot spittle sprayed against her neck, but miraculously, Daisy’s head remained intact. A split-second later, she shouldered the door open, spinning and slamming it shut behind her, awaiting the crashing beast close behind.

  The door remained undamaged.

  Don’t know what that’s all about, and I don’t much care. Where are the others?

  “Looks like they went through to the storeroom,” Sarah suggested.

  “Daisy, back here!” Tamara’s voice shouted from the storeroom.

  “Told ya.”

  She ran to the back of the building and saw Tamara’s head sticking out of a small goods delivery elevator shaft.

  “This way! The others already went down. It’s access to the shipping tunnels,” she called out before sliding down the shaft.

  Outside the building, a massive commotion could be heard. The beasts, robbed of a meal, were obviously on a rampage.

  “Okay, then. Back underground we go.”

  Daisy hit the bottom with a solid thud, but other than a dusty behind, she was unscathed.

  “What’s the sitrep?” she asked, quickly hopping to her feet.

  “It is a service tunnel network for commercial deliveries,” Jonathan said, the servos in his eyes humming slightly as he surveyed their surroundings. “I’ve heard of them, but never seen one, being from Los Angeles.”

  “Why’s that?” Daisy asked.

  “It’s more of an inclement weather sort of thing. This way commerce is not interrupted due to snowfall and the like. It is nothing so complicated and speedy as the loop-tube network, but the electric monorail cars are quite efficient when covering shorter distances.”

  “Shorter distances? So you’re saying this may take us the remainder of the way?” Tamara asked.

  “I am fairly certain, yes,” Jonathan replied. “While it will not deposit us at the central terminus, I believe the peripheral drop-off point should be relatively proximal to our original destination.”

  “And this thing has power?”

  “It would appear so,” he said, gesturing toward the illuminated tunnels.

  “Well, then,” Daisy said, slinging her pack into the nearest monorail car. “Let’s get moving. There’s no time to waste.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  The team finally reached the peripheral terminus at Colorado Springs two hours later, silently and safely hidden out of
sight, far beneath the surface, though even if the aliens had been watching, none would dare attack them once they were within the confines of that particular city.

  Unlike the rest of the state, Colorado Springs happened to be defended by a particularly robust automated defense system, owing mainly to the massive, and near-impenetrable, military complex housed under the towering stone peak looming above it. Cheyenne Mountain was one of the few places the invaders had quickly––and wisely––decided to simply avoid entirely.

  Conflict there would escalate rapidly, and almost certainly lead to mass destruction of their resources without likelihood of even penetrating the facility. Ultimately, once the satellite and communications network was taken out, their plans could proceed around the heavily fortified base. It simply wasn’t worth the effort and risk. Thus, it was left alone.

  As a fellow mechanical, Jonathan felt it would be wise if he approached Joshua’s facility fully visible to the powerful AI.

  “Better,” he said, enjoying the freedom of movement without the bulk of the Faraday suit restricting him. “One does want to make a good first impression, after all.”

  Trekking through the desolate streets, Daisy’s senses were on high alert. There wasn’t anyone or anything around, and yet the eerie sensation of being watched was making the back of her neck itch.

  Good thing I ate an extra ration before we left. I have a feeling you’re going to be burning through a lot of ATP before the day is over.

  “I’ll try to keep things narrowly focused as possible,” Sarah replied. “Save you as much as I can. I have a feeling this one’s gonna be a doozy.”

  Tamara took point as they progressed through the long-abandoned vehicles littering the city, leading the team on a weaving path through the shadows blotting the ground around the taller buildings. Her senses working overtime, she moved slowly, scanning every doorway, looking for danger in every shadow, pulse rifle pressed firmly to her good shoulder while her metal arm hung useless at her other side.

  Despite her handicap, however, Tamara felt good. It had been far too long since she’d run a proper mission, and stretching her legs in the fresh air after the ride in the claustrophobic pod felt pretty good too.